Out of the Box production of ‘Picnic’ opens Friday

Juliana Stewart directs the Out of the Box Players production of "Picnic," which opens on Friday.

Juliana Stewart directs the Out of the Box Players production of "Picnic," which opens on Friday. (File photo)

Maureen Robertson

The Out of the Box Players production of award-winning playwright William Inge’s “Picnic” will open in Ramona on Friday.

Four performances are planned — Jan. 19, 20, 26 and 27 — all starting at 7 p.m. at 321 12th St. Admission is $5 per person.

An optional Opening Night dinner, dessert and wine will be held at Hatfield Creek Vineyards and Winery at 1625 Highway 78 for up to 20 people before the Jan. 19 show. Tickets are $48.50 each and include show admission.

“Picnic,” set in a small town in Kansas, takes place over a Labor Day Weekend. It opened in 1953 on Broadway in New York City and won that year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama and New York Drama Critics Circle Best Play Award.

Directed by Juliana Stewart of Ramona, Out of the Box Players showcases a community troupe established in 2012 after Stewart missed the performing arts. Owner of Bonham Bros. & Stewart Mortuary and Cremation Services, Stewart earned her bachelor’s degree in theater arts and a master’s in speech/theater arts. She uses the mortuary chapel for Out of the Box Players productions.

The box office may be contacted at 760-789-0856 or outofboxplayers@aol.com.